At 3:49 PM -0400 8/20/98, Roger Wulff wrote:
>Dear John:
>
>I would like to thank you for the thoughtful reply concerning web sites.
>I have printed it out for my files.  First of all, I would like to state
>for the record - I am not a computer expert (although I play one on TV).
>
>My main reason for responding to the discussion is I would like to let
>smaller museums know it is very possible for them to establish a web
>site - now -  and may be cheaper than they think - even for those
>museums who have no computer - or only one computer and no internal
>network of any kind.
>
>I attended a "Non-Profits On-Line" Conference in Jan. of this year and
>was amazed to learn what some non-profits are doing with their web sites
>- and how important the web is becoming in the lives of the average
>family.  Newspaper readership is declining, even TV viewing by the
>average family is declining - where use of the Internet will double,
>maybe triple, by the year 2000.  This is the reason a newpaper empire
>like The Washington Post (one of the major sponsors of that Conference)
>is entering the Internet business.  The MSI Web Site on The Washington
>Post server cost USD $ 99.00 in set-up fees (they did the set-up) and
>$ 79.00 per month (non-profit rate).  And as you can see when you visit
>our site, we now operate an "On-line" Museum Bookstore and an "On-Line"
>International Craft Boutique on that site.
>

Roger,

This has been a good thread, and one that I am interested in. The cost of
servers has come down, and the number of Internet Service Provider
providing low cost access has made it easy for just about everyone to
publish on the Web. Of course, there are always going to be issues
concerning quality of said publication, but that is another matter. Shared
resources between museums is another viable way for a group of small
museums to develop a Web presence. You are right, it is becoming easier and
cheaper for smaller museums to develop a Web presence.

Still, not everyone is computer literate enough, or has the time, to
develop their own Web pages on the side. Each institution will have to ask
and answer the question of what is the best way for them. The computer
literacy issue may diminish, but the time issue will continue for many
organizations.

You make an excellent point about how families are using the Internet. I
was surprised and happy to find that about 30% of the respondents to the
online survey I did for my dissertation research indicated they were part
of a group visiting the Web site. As one might expect, there were some
differences in behaviors between groups and individuals visiting the site.
Most of the respondents indicated content was more important than flash.

Museums have the real stuff in their collections and people with expertise
about the collections. A good Web site can help spread knowledge beyond the
walls of the museum as well as encourage people to visit a particular
museum. We are just now getting a handle on the possibilities of the Web as
a medium to communicate our message.

john

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John Chadwick, Ed.D. Network Administrator and Web Administrator
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
1801 Mountain Road NW
Albuquerque, NM 87104
[log in to unmask],     http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/
phone: (505) 841-2843 FAX (505) 841-2866 Cellular (505) 264-4460
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